TheCable

Semiu Okanlawon, spokesman of Rauf Aregbesola, governor of Osun state, says the current administration has “achieved so much with so little” in its seven years in power.

Speaking at the triennial congress of the Ansar-ud-deen Society of Nigeria (Osun branch), which took place in Iwo, from Friday to Sunday, Okanlawon asked religious organisations and other stakeholders to fully support educational reforms in the state.

He said the construction of new schools, training of teachers and the improved examination pass rates among secondary school students was a huge testament that with added support, the state’s educational system would be “second to none.”

“As a religious body that had promoted education over the decades, we must not fail to remind ourselves of the critical need to join hands with the present administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, in its manifest mission to transform education in the state,” he said.

“Though it is still an ongoing project, this government has constructed new schools and refurbished many others. Had Aregbesola had so much money to play around with, perhaps, this would not have been too much a feat.

“But in a state as cash-strapped as we are, you would agree with me that this is a feat of immeasurable proportion. We are also grateful to God that the gains of these revolutionary transformations are manifest in the results of external examinations where our students take part.

“Today, Osun which used to produce less than 5% matriculate students after yearly examinations has remained consistently among the top three states in Nigeria in the Joint Admission Matriculation Board examinations in the last three years.

“Effectively by the year 2017, Osun had achieved a percentage improvement of at least 46% in WAEC (West African Examination Council) results when you compare the results of the years before the advent of the Aregbesola administration.”